Online crime map of the UK launched

Track criminal activity in your area

The Home Office has created a new website that allows you to look up towns in the UK and see what the crime is like in that area.

The website, found at www.police.uk, is currently overburdened with worried folk who want to scare themselves even more by seeing just how many criminals operate in their borough, but when it is fully operational it gives you a breakdown of local crime statistics.

Crime watch

As this is the first time all this information has been put into one place – various other crime maps have been released in the past – the tabloids are having a field day with pointing out which towns are the worst for crime.

As we are a tech site, though, we don't need to fuel vigilantism and mention that Glover's Court, Preston had 152 incidents in one month and that Guildhall Walk in Portsmouth is the most violent street.

Instead, we will tell you that you can also look at the website through your mobile phone and pinpoint the problems in an area you are visiting through the handset's GPS.

"We can't sweep crime under the carpet," said policing minister Nick Herbert about the new website.

"We have to tell the truth about crime and where it is happening and give the information and the power to the public."